To this day, my tutorial on removing image backgrounds non-destructively using Adobe Fireworks is still by far the most visited page on this site. I still receive email about it and questions from people requesting help with how to deal with their own images or more complex images than the ones the tutorial covered.
So, I’m throwing an idea out there : Would anyone be interested in a reasonably priced eBook on the subject that would go much deeper into the issue and even include some video where I show some of the techniques live? If so, what would you consider a reasonable price?
Furthermore, if you’ve had images that gave you trouble and would be willing to share them with me (an anyone who will read the eBook), feel free to contact me and you can then send me the images and I will choose some to use as examples. Any other feedback on this idea you want to provide is very welcome.
Other Subjects
If there’s anything else related to Web design, WordPress or any of the things I usually discuss here that you would like help with then share it in a comment or send a message directly to me. eBooks can cover a lot more ground easier than a blog post or online tutorial so, anything that might benefit from an eBook treatment is something I could write about.
Thanks!
Ebooks for Fireworks are very rare, so there is definitely a market (I also have been thinking of making one or two) . As an oldtimer FW user, I personally dont have need for further training but I would buy ebook just to support the author’s effort.
As for the content, I would recommend to go with the least covered subjects – Web Design. There are plenty of assets and articles of prototyping and development, but the actual beef is still there. Ebook about how to make developer-friendly web-layout (with FW specific workflow) could be a hit among old and new FW users (and open-minded PS/AI-users).
Thanks for your comment!
Yes you are quite right that there isn’t much out there about the actual workflow of making Web sites efficiently using Fireworks as the starting point. For that end, I could probably reuse a couple of chapters I had written for an unpublished book.
Food for thought. Thanks again for your comment Mikko!
There is definitely market for any books on Adobe Fireworks — ebooks or print!
While there are a lot of articles on the Web about Fireworks, most of them (unfortunately) are just lists (“50 awesome extensions you may need in Fireworks”, “25 cool Fireworks tutorials” and so on).
There are, of course, many authors that try to publish regularly original content about Fireworks, but I still feel there is lack of awesome Fireworks content!
So why not, an e-book that may cover in-depth one or two aspects of working with Fireworks?
About price, I’d say that “reasonable” is between 5 and 15 USD, but this depends on book length, of course… and many other factors. I’d say, put a lower price tag = more people may buy it without much thinking, and it may also reach wider audience, and be more useful. Be sure also to release for free a sample chapter! 😉
Speaking of ebooks… Maybe you may discuss such an idea with Smashing Mag editor? (And, as a matter of fact, you may also discuss with him a possible in-depth tutorial or a set of tutorials, involving Adobe Fireworks workflows). Smashing Mag are currently wishing to release more in-depth articles/tutorials about Fireworks, but there is lack of experienced authors that are willing (or able) to help… So why not you? 🙂
Thanks for the suggestions Michel! I might contact Smashing if there’s a need for it but I’d like to try it out here first and see how it goes. Unless Smashing pays really well… 😉
Any ideas on specific topics you think should be addressed?
Thanks again!
Smashing are paying between USD 175-350 per article (based on article length and many other factors), about possibility to release an e-book, I don’t know… Hope this helps! (Why don’t you mail them? They are really searching for high-quality Fw-related articles right now!)
Yes Stéphane, I’d be very interested.
I have lost a little faith with Fireworks, basically since Adobe took it on and Alan (Musselman) left, but still own and use CS4 and Fireworks frequently enters into my work flow. I did spend quite some time and did learn my way around Photoshop, but I don’t like it for most things and have reverted back to FWs for all my day to day stuff and I do a considerable amount of photography. I have most of the FW’s books from FWs 4 with Linda’s excellent ‘Playing with Fire’, which I still consider one of the best for me, but I am dyslexic, which may account for some of my difficulties with other programs.
I am also dipping my toe in the water with WordPress, but I don’t find it natural for me so it’s a bit of a struggle 🙂
Cheers
Peter
Hi Peter, thanks for your comment!
Personally, I haven’t lost faith in Fireworks itself but I did loose faith in Adobe’s desire to bring it to its full potential. Maybe the next version will finally move the app forward but we’ll see.
In the meantime, Fireworks still has no equals as it is right now for Web design work. I still use it and do not intend to stop using it any time soon. As for Photoshop, as great an app as it is, I still think it’s a terrible “design” and “layout” application. Completely the wrong tool for that kind of job IMO (Web or print… especially print).
Linda’s “Playing with Fire” was indeed one of the best FW books ever released. My approach will be far more focused on specific tasks and workflows as they relate to creating modern Web sites.
As for WordPress, maybe you just need to find the right tools like plugins and themes, especially the right theme framework. I will post about all that soon too because it’s now been about a year since I started doing client projects with WordPress and I would not go back. I can now concentrate on creating the right user experience and solving my clients’ needs and not recoding the same stuff time and time again. It’s very liberating. A strong CSS knowledge is mandatory though IMO. With the right theme framework, that will help you more than knowing PHP but that comes very handy as well.
Check out the Headway Theme framework if you are serious about integrating WordPress into your workflow. WordPress with Headway have rocked my site design and development process. If you decide to purchase it, I’d appreciate if you used my my affiliate link (either through the banner on the right or the link in this paragraph).
To conclude, is there any specific topic (Fireworks, WordPress or other) you think would be beneficial to cover?
Thanks again!
I do a lot of web design, and I find Fireworks the best tool to use, but a lot of people I talk to are just unwilling to venture into it. So it’d be great to have a high quality resource for Fireworks to prove its authenticity as a design app.
Thanks for the comment Laurence!
To prove it how? Many people are not willing to listen even to reasoned arguments. They use what’s familiar to them and are unwilling to change and maybe improve their workflow because they do not see it as problematic in the first place. And, quite frankly, who am I or anyone else to tell them otherwise? I have already made the case for Fireworks here (that is the second most visited page on this site) and countless times in the past in forums and other venues. I’ll leave that to others now as this is of absolutely no interest to me anymore. Being a Fireworks evangelist has consumed a lot of my time in the past for very little reward. I’m done. What I’m interested in at this time is provide useful tips and sharing key parts of my Web design workflow with people that are interested in possibly learning new things. That includes Fireworks of course but there’s much more to it than Fireworks and I want to place it in context of the entire process. I spend a lot more time in Dreamweaver, the WordPress admin and the Headway UI than in Fireworks nowadays. Fireworks is still an essential part of my toolset but it’s no longer the center of it.
I do want to start with Fireworks related material for my eBooks though because I’ve been using it for so long (+12 years) and I want to share how my usage of it has evolved.
So, I’ll ask you what I asked the others: Is there any specific topics (related to Fireworks or not) that you believe would be particularly useful to you or other people?
Thanks again!
Web design workflows with Fireworks sounds like one of the best possible topics… 🙂
But feel free to choose your own topic — why not?